Blast-furnace-charging apparatus.



G. G. SHAGKLEFORD.

BLAST FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1908.

Patented June 29, 1909.

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G. C. SHAGKLEFORD. BLAST FURNACE OHARGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1908.

Patented June 29, 1909.

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' gation of the mass occurs if the direction of UNITED STATES PATENT@FFTCE.

GIBBON O. SHAGKLEFORD, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OlllO, ASblGNOlt Ol ONE-HALF TOTHOMAS J. BRAY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

BLAST-FURNACE-CHARGIN G APPARATUS.

Application filed September 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29, 1909.

Serial No. 451,229.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gannon C. SHAOKLE- roRn, residing at Youngstown, inthe county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvementsin Blast-Furnace-Charging Apparatus, of which improvements the followingis a specification.

It is well known that when a mass of material as for example a skip carload of ore composed of dust and large lumps, is discharged from onereceptacle to another, as from the skip car to a receiving hopper, andfrom the latter to the main hopper, a segremovement is inclined or at anangle to direction of pull of gravity on the components of such mass,and if the mass in passing from one receptacle to another strikesagainst a deflecting surface, the segregation is greatly increased andthe mass is considerably spread out in the receiving receptacles. Such aseparation of the fine and coarse components is very undesirable incharging blast fur-- naces as it promotes an irregular working of thefurnace. It is characteristic of the apparatus generally employed forinsuring an even distribution of the charge in the fur nace that thematerials in passing from the skip car through the several receptaclesto the furnace not only move in an angle to the pull of gravity butstrike against thence"- ing surfaces before coming to rest in eachreceptacle, thus effecting a comparatively thorough segregation of thefine and coarse components, and a considerable spreading of each chargearound the bell in the receiving receptacle.

The invention described herein has for its object a construction andcombination of parts or elements of a distributing apparatus whereby thematerials constituting the charge are caused to move in substantiallyvertical lines in passing from the distributing hopper into thereceiving hopper, from the latter into the main hopper and thence intothe furnace.

The invention is hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification Figure1 is a sectional elevation of the upper portion of a blast furnacehaving my improvement applied thereto, Figs. 2 and 3 are detail viewsillustrating mechanism for shifting the distributing hopper.

My improvement is designed to be applied to the usual construct-ion ofcharging top, consisting of a main hopper l andbell 2 and a receivinghopper 3 arranged on top of the main hopper, and provided with a bell 1closing the lower end of the receiving hopper and also closing the upperend of the main hopper to prevent the escape of gas when the main hell 1is lowered. Any suitable mechanism can be employed for raising andlowering these bells independently of each other.

The distributing hopper 5, provided with a spout 6 arranged eccentric tothe axis of rotation of the hopper, is rotatably supported above thereceiving hopper in any suitable manner. A. desirable construction forsupporting this hopper consists of a ring '7 secured in any convenientmanner to the scaffolding of the furnace as by brackets S. A series ofgrooved rollers 9 are mounted on pins projecting inwardly from the ring,said rollers forming supports for the flange 10 secured to the hopper asshown in Figs. 1 and lVhile the distributing hopper may be shifted inany desired manner it is preferred to effect the movement thereofthrough the skip hoisting mechanism. The ropes for hoisting the skips 11are passed around the grooved pulleys l2 and 15 loosely mounted on theshaft 1st and having the halves 15 and 16 of a clutch mechanism securedto or formed integral with their hubs. The other halves or members 17and 18 of the clutch mechanisms are secured to the shaft 114-. Theengaging faces of the clutch members are formed by teeth having facesabrupt and the opposite faces with considerable slope or inclination.\Vhen the skip having its rope passing around the pulley 12 is beinghoisted the shaft 1 1- will be rotated and the clutch members 16 and .18will be out of engagement. lVhen this skip is emptied and lowered theopposite rotation of the pulley 12 will cause the inclined faces of theengaging teeth of the clutch to move along each other, thereby forcingthe member 15 away from and out of engagement with the mem ber 17. Thismovement of the member 15 along the shaft is utilized to shift themember 16 into engagement with the member 18, so that when the pulley 13is rotated by hoisting the other skip the shaft 1% will be rotatedthereby rotating the distributing hopper. The movement of one clutchmember can be transmitted to the other by any suitable means as forexample by levers 19 having forked ends engaging grooves in the members15 and 16 and having their opposite ends connected by a rod 20.

Movement is conveniently transmitted from the shaft 14 by a shaft 21provided at its upper end with a bevel pinion engaging a correspondingpinion on shaft 14, and at its lower end with a pinion 22 engaging atoothed ring 23 on the distributing hopper. It is preferred that theshaft 21 should be formed in sections which are connected by universaljoints 2 1.

As will be readily understood the distributing hopper is shifted afterone skip is discharged thereinto, the distance of such movement beingdependent upon the relative dimensions of the gearing connecting theshaft 14 with the distributing hopper.

It will be observed that the spout 6 has straight walls verticallyarranged and of such length that materials after passing therethroughwill move in substantially vertical lines into the receiving hopper 8.the lines of movement of the components of each mass are vertical andparallel it follows that there will be very slight segregation, whichwill be due to the tendency of the larger components to roll down thesides of the pile of the material formed in the receiving receptacle.But as the mass moves in a straight line, each mass will form a smallcompact pile. On account of the necessary construction of the hopper 3and bell l the first portions of each skip load will be slightlydeflected, but in order to reduce such slight deflection to a minimum,the spout is given such an eccentricity that the axis of the spout, whenthe hopper is turned, will describe an arc of a radius approxi matelyequal to the radius of the line of contact of the bell 4: and hopper 3.By theshifting of the distributing hopper, such movement being dependentupon the amount of material in each charge, the successive charges aredeposited in compact piles in the receiving hopper. The extent ofmovement of the distributing hopper between successive discharges may beso adjusted that the successive piles will overlap the preceding pilessomewhat at their base. \Vhen the bell of the receiving hopper islowered, each pile will move down with slight spreading onto the belland sides of the main hopper. If the piles have been so arranged in thereceiving hopper that adjacent piles are close together or overlapsomewhat, as stated, a tendency of the components of any one pile tospread While dropping into the main hopper, will be to a great extentovercome by the components of adjacent piles, the falling materials ineach pile preventing the materials in adjacent piles from movinglaterally in dropping. Each charge deposited in the receiving hopperwill be distributed with substantial uniformity around a vertical linepassing through the axis of the spout 6, and this pile when deposited inthe main hopper will also be distributed uniformly around the same line.And further, when the main bell is lowered, the materials in each pilewill, when spread out in the furnace, preserve the same uniformity ofdistribution around the same line or axis.

1f the distributing hopper should be moved between successive dischargesa distance which is an exact fraction or one-sixth of the periphery ofthe circle described by the spout 5, the material would be arranged inpiles in the furnace, each successive charge being deposited at the samepoints on preceding piles. This objectionable feature can be overcome byshifting the distributing hopper a distance slightly greater or lessthan a given exact fractional part of the periphery of the circledescribed by the spout. As, for example, if six piles are to bedeposited in the receiving hopper, the distributing hopper would beshifted between successive discharges a distance a little greater orless than one-sixth of the periphery of the circle described by thespout 6. The irregularity of the spacing would not be material, and apractical uniformity in the distribution of the material in the furnacewould be attained, said parts being so constructed and arranged that thematerial of each charge, in passing from the distributing hopper to thefurnace, will maintain its uniformity of distribution around a verticalline passing through the axis of the spout of the discharge hopper atthe time said charge passes through said spout.

I claim herein as my invention:

1. A blast furnace charging apparatus having a main hopper and bell, areceiving hopper and bell in combination with means for chargingsuccessive loads of material in substantially vertical lines atdifferent points in the receiving hopper to form compact iles ofmaterial therein.

2. A blast furnace charging apparatus having in combination a mainhopper and bell, a receiving hopper and bell, and a rotatable hopperhaving a discharge spout eccentric to its axis of rotation, and havingvertical walls whereby the material is caused to move in substantiallyvertical lines into the receiving hopper.

3. A blast furnace charging apparatus having in combination a mainhopper anc bell, a receiving hopper and bell, a distributing hopperhaving an eccentric discharge spout, said spout having vertical guidingwalls whereby the material is caused to move in substantially verticallines into the receiving hopper and means operated by the skips forshifting the distributing hopper.

4:. A blast furnace charging apparatus having in combination a mainhopper and bell, and receiving hopper and bell, a distributing hopperprovided with a discharge spout, said parts being so constructed andarranged that the material of each charge in passing from thedistributing hopper to the furnace will maintain its uniformity ofdistribution around a vertical line passing through the axis of thespout of the distributing hopper at the time the said charge passesthrough said spout.

5. A blast furnace charging apparatus having in combination a mainhopper and bell, a receiving hopper and bell of sub- 'stantially thesame dimensions as the main hopper and bell, a distributing hopperprovided with an eccentric discharge spout having vertical walls, thedistance of the axis of the spout from the axis of the receiving bellbeing approximately equal to the radius of the circle of contact of thereceiving hopper and bell, and means for rotating the distributinghopper.

6. A blast furnace charging apparatus having in combination means forcharging materials in piles in a furnace, and means for shifting thecharging means in intervals between successive discharges a uniformdistance varying from that which would effect a symmetrical distributionof the material in the course of a single revolution.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

GIBBON C. SHACKLEFORD.

Witnesses STANLEY H. MoKnn, J. S. .lVIOBRTDE.

